Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a no-frost refrigerator. In the case of such refrigerators, an evaporator is disposed, for example, in a chamber that is separated from a storage compartment for articles that are to be cooled, and an exchange of air between the chamber and the storage compartment, by which the latter is cooled, takes place in that, with the aid of a fan on the evaporator, cooled and dried air is blown into the storage compartment and relatively warm, humid air is taken out of the storage compartment into the chamber. In such a case, the storage compartment is not just cooled, but also dehumidified. The moisture condenses on the evaporator. This dehumidification prevents refrigeration where, under critical climatic conditions, particularly if the refrigerator is used in warm surroundings with a high level of air humidity, condensation condenses on set-down surfaces and articles that are to be cooled in the storage compartment. However, in the case of less critical ambient conditions, this advantage may turn into a disadvantage if stored foodstuffs are dried out by the intensive dehumidification.
Also known are so-called hybrid refrigerators in which the evaporator is in direct thermal contact with the storage compartment and a fan is used to produce an air flow in the storage compartment that passes over an evaporator-cooled side wall of the storage compartment and, thus, intensifies the exchange of heat between the storage compartment and evaporator. In the case of these hybrid appliances, the dehumidifying action is less intensive than in the case of a no-frost appliance because moisture that has condensed on the cooled wall of the storage compartment, over non-operational periods of the evaporator, has the opportunity of evaporating back into the storage compartment. This also means, however, that, under critical use conditions, the risk of the undesired formation of condensation is higher in the case of such appliances than in the case of a no-frost appliance.